PLANS for a new cafe and bunk barn for cyclists riding through a picturesque Ribble Valley have been approved despite objections.

The application to change an empty agricultural building in Slaidburn into a three-bedroom dwelling, cafe and bunk barn, was given the go-ahead by Ribble Valley Borough Council.

Plans for New Barn, Holden Lane, were submitted by former Lancashire Constabulary detective constable Ian Gibbs, who started the I Cycle Training company following his retirement in 2007 and currently employs nine people.

The father-of-two decided to convert the barn into a three-storey cafe catering for 30 people and bunk barn accommodating nine people after the 'recent increase in tourist activity' in the area due to the newly opened Lancashire Cycleway.

The challenging 280-mile tour of the county taking in the Bowland Hills, south Pennines and coastal plains was opened in March 2009.

He said: “The proposal will create additional sustainable employment, will assist in encouraging greater cycling and visitor activity in the wider area and reuse an existing building which are all local and regional government aims.

“The facility will hopefully be a service available to visitors and is unlikely to be an attraction in its own right. It will merely be a facility for users already coming to the area.”

The cafe will occupy the ground floor of the building with the bunk barn on the second and third floors. There will also be parking to the front and side of the site.

Grindleton Parish Council had objected to the development claiming it would have a detrimental impact on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.